It’s no shocker that Sylvester Stallone has the screenwriting chops to bring an exciting Hollywood action thriller to life. After all, he’s an experienced action star himself who has both written and starred in the famous Rocky, Rambo, and The Expendables movie franchises, which make up most of his highest-grossing films. Jason Statham, a talented actor with a similar reputation for playing the tough-as-nails hero, has worked alongside Stallone several times, and they have forged a personal and professional bond. While filming together for one of The Expendables movies, they spoke about a script that Stallone had in his back pocket, which would eventually become the action thriller Homefront (2013).
Stallone originally pictured himself starring in the film, but that never panned out. In a behind-the-scenes interview, he explained, “I thought it was really an excellent script. I was gonna do it time and again, but I thought I’d outgrown it. I mean, physically, I was just too old to do it.” Luckily, he had the perfect candidate for a leading man right in front of him. “Jason was talking about something he wanted to do, and I said, ‘Why don’t you try reading this script?’ And he fell in love with it.” For the aging star, passing Homefront to the younger and hungrier Statham seemed like a no-brainer. Of course, Stallone wrote Statham’s legendary Lee Christmas character for The Expendables movies, but Homefront has arguably the most complex and complete Statham role.
Homefront was Adapted from a Crime Thriller
Release Date
November 12, 2013
Director
Gary Fleder
Runtime
100minutes
Distributor(s)
Open Road Films
Gary Fleder was brought on to direct Homefront, which Stallone adapted from the 2005 Chuck Logan novel of the same name. Fleder already had experience bringing popular crime thrillers to the big screen, having worked on the Alex Cross movie Kiss the Girls (1997) and Runaway Jury (2003), which were based on books by James Patterson and John Grisham, respectively. Homefront is the sixth installment in Logan’s seven-book series about a DEA agent named Phil Broker.
In the movie adaptation, Broker (Statham) has retired from the agency and is trying to make a quiet life for himself and his daughter Maddy (Izabela Vidovic) in Louisiana. However, trouble seems to follow him, and soon the pair find themselves the target of a local meth dealer named Gator (James Franco), who has a connection to Broker’s past.
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‘Homefront’ is More Than an Action Movie
Open Road Films
Homefront differs from typical action movies because it’s based almost as much on character as plot. Statham, who is used to playing hardened men who talk with their fists first — one of the things you’ll find in just about all his movies — was given an opportunity to show his more dramatic side with a script that highlights the emotional bond between Broker and his daughter. According to critics, it’s the poignant moments between these two characters that really make the movie sing.
That’s not to say Homefront is lacking in the thrills you’d expect from Stallone or Statham — there’s just something more meaningful cut in between all the violence. As Steven Boone elegantly described in his review for RogerEbert.com, “The most exciting shots in the movie are subtle glances between Broker and Maddy, communicating in a shorthand that only two people who’ve suffered and survived a colossal loss together could decode. In a movie where every shove, kick, and door slam sounds like ten cannons, this patch of humanity is a small victory.”
In his interview, Stallone praised Statham’s performance: “Jason has a lot more talent than he gives himself credit for. … He needed, I think, someone who knows him intimately, at least professionally, like I do, and knows that he can pull it off.” There are plenty of aspects of Homefront that are directly in Statham’s wheelhouse, but the vessel through which he delivered the action — i.e. the role of a desperate and protective father — was different enough from his other roles that the actor needed a bit of a push from his mentor.
“I know that when you do a series of action films, you’re called on to play the strong silent type, and you’re not supposed to be that emotional. It’s just not that kind of character, not that kind of persona he had developed,” Stallone said. “So now he had to let it out.”
Stallone Fleshed-Out All of Homefront’s Characters
Even the secondary characters in Homefront are more developed than you might expect. The excitement of the movie kicks off when Maddy stands up to a bully at school, unwittingly igniting a feud between her father and the other kid’s uncle, the disturbed crime boss Gator. When Gator discovers a secret about Broker’s past as a federal agent, the web becomes more entangled as Broker tries to shield his daughter from imminent danger. The film also features Kate Bosworth as Cassie Klum, Gator’s sister and the mother of Maddy’s bully, and Winona Ryder as Sheryl Mott, Gator’s girlfriend who is more than happy to participate in his schemes. Homefront is one of Bosworth’s movies that doesn’t get enough attention, as she was highly praised for her performance and even considered the highlight of the film for some.
Homefront also features actors like Stuart Greer, Clancy Brown, and Omar Benson Miller, who pepper the small-town battleground with their supporting characters and deliver their meth-addled roles perfectly. Statham credits Stallone for these opportunities, highlighting the well-crafted script that provides even the supporting actors with meat to chew on, rather than some action flicks that rely on one or two fleshed-out leads, leaving the other characters one-dimensional.
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Statham Credits Stallone’s Script For Homefront’s Success
Open Road Films
Statham told Den of Geek of Stallone, “He’s one of the great writers. I think people forget how many great films he’s written. … It’s like a library of mega-success. He just comes with a stamp of quality.” Without question, he is grateful that Homefront landed in his lap. “I grew up on Stallone. It’s one of the biggest privileges you can get … to get hand-delivered a script for something he wrote himself.” The project paid off for Statham, with the film more than doubling its $22M budget at the box office and adding yet another success to his lengthy resume. Not to mention setting him up well for future roles like Spy (2015), his highest-rated action movie on Rotten Tomatoes. Luckily, audiences won’t have to wait long for this dynamic duo to light up our screens once again. Stallone and Statham are teaming up for the upcoming action-thriller Levon’s Trade. Following a tried-and-true recipe, the former is adapting the script from a successful crime novel and the latter will be in the lead role. We just hope it will pack the same punch as Homefront.
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